CLAYTON-le-Moor Harriers' Veteran Mens Teams clinched gold and silver medals in the English Fell Championship on home ground last Saturday.

The final round of the six race series was held at Thieveley Pike, Cliviger and was organised and marshalled by the club.

The inclusion of the event in the Championship Calendar doubled the usual field to over 300, although the glorious weather undoubtedly helped too.

The race was one of the shortest in the series at just four miles, but with two stiff climbs it was still a true test for the athletes.

The Over 50s secured the Championship after six men scored for the team over the season - Peter McWade, Jack Holt, Kieran Carr, Ian Robinson, Mick Targett and Geoff Newsam.

Meanwhile, the Over 40s took team silver after 12 athletes contributed to the effort.

Veteran Team captain Ian Greenwood was key to their success, while Jack Holt and Kieran Carr scored for the M40s despite being in their fifties.

Leading scorers at Thieveley were Mike Wallis, Tony Chew and John Tomlinson, while the other medallists are Geoff Gough, Mark Aspinall, Richard Belares, Mark Nutter, Brian Horrocks and Martin Brady.

While the pressure was on the men, the gold medal in the Women's Over 50 classification had been decided long ago.

Wendy Dodds achieved three wins and a second place in the first four races and had secured the inaugural F50 title by June.

Her win at Sedbergh in August gave her the maximum score of four wins and she duly made it five at Cliviger.

The new Over 50 Championship for the women has been timely for Dodds, who won the Over 40s English title two years ago at the age of 49.

There are new opportunities for the veterans nowadays with the Veteran World Mountain Championships being held for the first time last year in Poland. Last month Dodds was England's only representative in the F50s at the second Championships at Innsbruck in Austria. She finished 11th on an all uphill course, while former Todmorden Harrier Sue Becconsall was ninth F40.

Selection for Innsbruck was a bonus for Dodds, who hadn't geared her training for running a mere six miles.

Her 50th birthday celebrations were put on hold for a year because of the foot and mouth crisis, but in June she completed the Bob Graham Round, a 24 hour run climbing 42 lakeland peaks over a distance of 74 miles and including 28,500 feet of climbing.

Dodds added another nine summits to complete 51 by the age of 51.

She had planned to run the Welsh and Scottish equivalents too, but abandoned the Welsh Paddy Buckley after 18 hours due to bad weather, and didn't attempt Scotland.

The most settled weather of the season has been at the tail end of the summer, but unfortunately the daylight hours are too short for a 24 hour attempt.

And Clayton will win a second individual English Championship medal with Maureen Laney.

Laney made her name on the roads and was recently recalled to the Lancashire Road Racing Team, but she has turned to the fells in what she calls "a natural progression".

With the official standings not yet confirmed, she is sure of at least the bronze in the Over 40 age group to add to her bronze in the British Championship. She was ninth overall at Thieveley, while team-mate Vanessa Peacock in fifth was the winning veteran.

With the race attracting the cream of England's fell runners, Andy Wrench couldn't make it a hat-trick of wins, but his Todmorden club fared well with the first two locals George Erhardt in sixth and Wrench 13th.

Highest Clayton men were Shaun Livesey in 19th, Mike Wallis 22nd, Dave Walker 26th and Andy Black 27th. Junior Michael Hammer was 45th for Blackburn Harriers.